A sidebar to our earlier report about US drones taking out an ISIS leader in Syria: On the way to complete the mission, the trio of Reaper drones used was repeatedly harassed by Russian fighters on its route. The Pentagon released footage showing the SU-34s and SU-35s making at least 18 passes of the Reapers, dropping flares and flying dangerously close to the remote-operated drones, causing them to make evasive manuevers.
ABC News reports it was the third consecutive day that Russian jets have impeded the routes of US drones in Syria, where US forces continue to pursue ISIS fighters in the eastern half of the country and Russians fly over the western portion in support of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.